SUM4032 – Development and Sustainability in Contemporary Asia: Connections, Contradictions and Change

The resurgence of Asia represents the most significant global shift in the capitalist world economy during the past 50 years. China and India are now consolidating their positions as global powers, "disrupting" the global economic and political order once dominated by the West. At the same time, a number of other Asian countries are experiencing rapid economic growth and emerging as important players in regional and global markets, politics and foreign aid. Yet the Asian development success stories are marred by contradictions, with high-consuming middle classes rapidly expanding alongside persistent and growing socio-economic inequalities, dislocations and environmental degradation. New connections within Asia, and between Asian countries and other regions, represent economic growth and technological upgrading, but also the cementation of new hierarchies and dependencies. Understanding development in contemporary Asia is therefore increasingly crucial to our broader understanding of global capitalism.

This course interrogates development processes in contemporary Asia, examining the interplay between global political-economic and environmental forces; state policies; and the politics and practices of everyday life.

• Thorough knowledge of contemporary Asian development and its global ramifications
• The ability to analyze new spatial connections across scales in Asia and beyond
• In-depth understanding of some of the contradictions of capitalist development through analyzing global trends combined with case studies from select Asian countries

2024 onwards: 3 days home exam

2023: Term paper

2020 - 2022: 3 days home exam.

2021: Assessment guide

2020: Assessment guide

• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Resitting an examination